Abstract:

Changes have taken place in state funded education model which has been adopted for centuries around the world. A number of unfavourable budget cuts especially during the economy turn down caused a tight budget situation for higher learning institutions (HEIs). With lesser funds from the state, public institutions are forced to be more creative in generating incomes to be more financially sustainable. Malaysia is facing the same situation due the tight budget policy, public HEIs are forced to generate their own income. The setting of philanthropy fund (namely ‘endowment fund’ or waqaf) in the university is seen as an interesting move to financial sustainability. The review and interview reveals that the issues such as difficulty in raising, competent management team and “mutawalli” status are dominated in waqf set up and management in selected universities in Malaysia.